Fantastic Four #9 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 2003, Marvel established an imprint for all ages. Unlike Star Comics in the 1980s, this imprint would star the heroes of the 616-Universe. First titled 'Marvel Age', the plots were taken directly from the earliest issues to bear the Marvel Comics brand name. Written by Stan Lee and featuring the art of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others. Marvel Age Spider-Man and Marvel Age: Fantastic Four. The retellings would be written by the best and brightest of the Marvel Bullpen with Manga inspired artwork by up-and-coming artists from the Japanese inspired medium. 

In this issue which reimagines Fantastic Four #9 from 1962, the Fantastic Four's most deadliest foes, Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner have joined forces. Doom has invented a device that can control the gravity of any object. The plan is for Prince Namor to visit the Baxter Building under the rise of a proposed truce. While there he will hide Doom's device inside the recesses of the skyscraper. 

It's actually not very hard for the Sub-Mariner to hide the device. While Sue Storm is Mister Fantastic's girlfriend, she's been developing feelings for Namor during their recent skirmishes with the ruler of Atlantis. Ben Grimm and Little brother Johnny Storm want to mop up the floor with Namor. Sue wants to finally have a chance to sort through her feelings. Meanwhile, Reed Richards smells a rat and right he is! Because Doctor Doom has activated his gravity device, sending the Baxter Building into outer space with the Sub-Mariner aboard! Heading directly towards the sun, with the oxygen running thin, I guess only so much can be said about honestly and loyalty when you make a deal with Doctor Doom!

The writing by Marc Sumerak was quite good. I've read this issue a number of times. The original, I mean. So it is a bit weird to experience this plot with references to more modern pop culture icons like Jerry Seinfeld. Though, did kids from 2005, when this Marvel Age issue was published, know who of the comedian and star of a TV series that went off the air 7 years prior? So the references are a bit awkward- too  awkward. But this is something that the big two publishers have been guilty of for decades. But it's also forgivable. Trying to relate to kids is hard. Not everyone can do it.

What, in my opinion, isn't quite so forgivable is the art. I should be a crime to think that you can't make a comic book for children without dipping into the Manga ink well. Sure, Manga is what has inspired a large number of artists who hit the scene in the past 30 years. But it should not be the only style of artwork that young comic book readers are exposed to. Especially for such an iconic family the Fantastic Four. That ever-changing look of characters based on their emotions which is a Manga staple just doesn't work with The Thing or the Human Torch. Heck, it doesn't even work with the plastic fluidity of Mister Fantastic. You'd think that it would considering that he's stretchy. But here, it just looks weird. Blame artist Alitha Martinez for that. However, I'm really confused as I've experienced some of her work before and it did not look like this. Maybe early in her career she tried the Manga route. If so, I am glad it was a phase or the comic collecting world would have been deprived of one of the most talented female artists of the past 2 decades.

If this  wasn't a FF comic book, I probably wouldn't keep it. But just like when I listen to Queen, a bad Fantastic Four comic is better than no Fantastic Four comic book at all!

Completing this review completes Task #8 (Fantastic Four Comic from the 2000s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

New Avengers #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

 Avengers: Disassembled.

It was the darkest day for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Scarlet Witch realized that her twin boys, Billy and Tommy, weren't real. It just wasn't humanly possible for a mutant and an android to produce biological children. Going into severe psychosis, Wanda destroys the Avengers Mansion, murders her husband, the Vision, and kills a couple other Avengers, including one of the Ant-Mans. Public and government sentiment of the Avengers reached an all-time low seeing Tony Stark and Steve Rogers disband the team in return.

Now it's 6 months later. There's one less super group to save Manhattan. Freshly outted as Daredevil, Matt Murdock travels to the Raft, an ultra-top security containment facility for most of Earth's most dangerous villains underneath Ryker's Island. With Luke Cage in tow as a bodyguard, and perhaps to keep up the appearance that he's not really the Man Without Fear, Murdock is conducting legal business on behalf of Mister Fantastic with one of the inmates. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious person has hired Electro to take out the prison's electrical grid and free as many of its occupants as possible. The motive behind this action is just as unknown as Electro's new benefactor, but the member of the Sinister Six is ready to prove the he's got what it takes to bring Manhattan and the World to its knees all by his lonesome. All those he frees have to do is one day owe Electro a favor.

Though issue #1 of New Avengers has quite a bit of action, don't expect the team to be back in action just yet. This issue is to primarily get most of the players onto the game board. Along with Murdock and Power Man, this episode adds Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Captain America to the fray. There's also Reed Richard's mystery client. But I am pretty sure that there's still a couple more heroes to add to the roster who are unaccounted for.

Brian Michael Bendis penned this opener into a new chapter of the Avengers. I know he's got a lot of detractors out there. But I like him. He's a lot like Tom King in that he makes a lot of enemies by screwing around with fan's favorite characters by either killing them off, or making them gay or trans or making them into bad guys. But unlike with King, I am mostly okay with Bendis' changes because they're very well plotted and make sense. I think Tom King just has a singular plan to ruin my childhood...

David Finch is the artist for this issue. He did an amazing job. However, I think it must be said that it wouldn't have been so amazing if not for the masterful brush strokes of Danny Miki as the inker. It's got that George Perez/Frank Quitely quality to it of which I am such a fan!

The iconic, and oft recreated cover was crafted by colorist Frank D'Armata.

An amazing 2005 issue that kicks off one of my most favorite incarnations of the Avengers!

Completing this review completes Task #11 (An Avengers Comic from the 2000s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

A mystery novel in which a flock of sheep attempts to solve the murder of their shepherd. 5 years ago, I would have overlooked this book. But today, I am the owner and caregiver of several Nigerian Dwarf goats, I've become an amateur vet tech for a variety of animals, and I can't get enough mystery stories. So, this book seems to check off a lot of interests for me.

I first became aware of this 2005 novel about a month ago and I owe it all to Facebook. It was on that social media site that I came across the trailer for the live action film adaptation. Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson, is due out later this Spring. By the end of the 2 minute sneak preview, I was dying laughing and so ready to go see it in theaters. I must admit, it's been a long time since I have been left wanting to see an full-fledged comedy of any sort that wasn't rated appropriate for general audiences. And even though I am not happy with Jackman divorcing his wife after an affair with a much younger actress, I was willing to overlook it to see this movie!

The trailer is where I learned that Sheep Detectives is based on a mystery novel. I immediately went to Amazon in hopes of purchasing a copy. Only, I couldn't find anything cheaper than $35. In fact, most editions were priced in the $80 to $100 plus range. For a 20 year old book! What the frick?! 

I then learned that the book was originally published as Three Bags Full. Also, in order to tie in with the film, all previous editions were placed out of print in place of a brand new edition. Thus the move prompted most sellers to raise their prices to those astronomical prices. I don't think they realized that this is actually a dumb move, as with a much cheaper edition coming out, and pretty soon as well, I was willing to wait for the pre-order. I assume that with how insane overall prices have become, a lot of eager mystery fans were willing to wait for a more pocket book friendly edition to come out.

My book arrived just before Easter. That seemed very appropriate considering how lambs and lush fields are symbols of the holiday season. I was taken by the adorable set of sheep on the front cover. I would encounter them more as they all appear in a makeshift animated sequence that plays out on the bottom right corner of the book if you flip the pages kinda fast. 

I learned from the back cover that this book was originally written in German where it has the different title of Glenkill, the name of the rustic Irish town where the murder takes place. Since I would be reading an English translation of a German text, I was concerned that some of the charm and humor might be stunted; forever lost in translation. However I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very cute book with many humorous moments as the flock try to solve the murder of George Glenn from their observations of the human race. 

Naturally, these ruminants get things wrong. Hilariously wrong. As the story is told from the point of view of the sheep, there's a lot of missing parts. Being that nothing happens in this book unless one of George's sheep are present, you might wonder how much mystery can be solved in a small pasture. But it's a very busy crime scene and these goats like to wander off... a lot.

When I read a gritty crime noir, I often get a little lost. (I chalk it up to my growing short term memory loss issues.) So I'll go back and thumb through the book trying to figure out what I missed. As all of the action in this book occurs only in front of the sheep, and they don't quite understand humans very well, there is a lot of incomplete data. Thus, if something didn't make sense, I think that was intentional on the part of the author. Still, not all of the pieces to all of the puzzles fit neatly together at the end. But if you can read between the lines, you should do okay. 

Glenkill is like any small town in the U.K., full of unsavory people who might or might not have something to do with the murders or one of a dozen other scandals that it seems everyone but the sheep and the reader know about. Is it the priest? The butcher? The scorn woman? Everyone is guilty about something but only 1 of the townsfolk knows the truth behind who killed George the shepherd.

Fanciful and fun. Funny too. The charm doesn't have to end and I am not just talking about going to see the film in theaters. Leonie Swann has actually written a sequel; 2010's Big Bad Wool. As opposed to a mystery, it's got a horror edge to it. I wonder if I can wait until October to devour it as part of my Halloween time reading list. It'll be tough but I think I can do it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

Duke is a werewolf. Earl is a vampire. They're friends but they act like they hate each other. Since Earl is in a vulnerable state during daylight hours, Duke is his pal's protector. Imagine Lennie and George from Of Mice and Men. I picture Duke and Earl as the main characters from Tremors: rude, crude and a little dumb. But what they lack in book smarts, they make up for with rugged ingenuity and supernatural powers. While those characters were played by Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon, I don't really envision those actors as Duke and Earl. In terms of Duke, I picture Tyler Labine from Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil. But hairier. I couldn't picture anyone famous for Earl.

Okay, back to the story...

The two drifters wind up at an all-night greasy spoon looking for gas and grub. Instead, they wind up having to take on a legion of zombies. So begins a tale that I could see being a Netflix series or even a SyFy movie that takes the two characters and puts them against a young adult aspiring pagan priestess who wants to usher in the apocalypse. Turns out that the truck stop is situated on the nexus point that will open up the gates of the underworld and introduce ancient deities to the 21st century.

If you can get past the clunky first two chapters, you're in for a treat. It was almost like the author had a little trouble getting out of the starting gate. (This 2005 work from TOR Books was his first novel.) I find as a rule of thumb that anytime a character is described as wearing a T-shirt with a funny but also inappropriate saying on it, there's just something off about the storytelling. Heck, Stephen King and Douglas Adams were both guilty of this at times. But I am very glad that I pressed on with the book.

Gil's All Fright Diner does some really clever work re-adjusting the established rules behind traditional folk characters such as the Wolfman, vampires, zombies and especially ghosts. There's a whole dichotomy that makes ghosts more believable in this world than here in reality. And they're smartly written too.

I liked the universe that writer A. Lee Martinez created and I was actually disappointed to see this book end. It's not a world that I would want to live in. But it's definitely a place that I would like to visit again. Sadly, though Martinez has written other similar type works of horror/comedy/fantasy, it doesn't appear that Duke nor Earl return in any of them. That being said, I wouldn't mind giving another one of the author's works a try and he's got a couple that do look interesting.

We'll see...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones

While this is a general account of the origin of the comic book, the crux of the narrative involves Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. These 2 Cleveland kids became friends, dreamed of creating a character worthy of a newspaper strip and ended up creating the archetype of the superhero which would dominate comics for over 85 years and counting. Boy, did the creators of Superman get screwed. But so did a whole lot of comic book creators, writers and artists during the infancy of comic books. Superman's creators, especially Jerry Siegel just happened to be the most vocal about it and essentially both men were blackballed for it.

I didn't realize how much influence that organized crime had in the early days of comics. Not just the Italians; but the Jewish mob as well. Harry Donenfeld, the founder of the publisher that would become DC Comics, rubbed elbows with the likes of Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. With their money funneling through Donenfeld's publishing and printing companies, any sort of shaking of the apple cart meant unwanted scrutiny. So anytime someone complained about low page rates or contacts not being honored, scummy accountants like Jack Liebowitz would show doctored ledgers indicating huge losses while bemoaning a lack of financial security. Then someone like the creators of Superman would be tossed a couple hundred bucks and hopefully walk away quietly while the editors and publishers lived like kings.

But it wasn't just the executives taking advantage of their creators. This book will make you despise Bob Kane, if you didn't already. Kane would literally steal the credit from his ghost writers and artists while basking in the limelight of being Batman's dad. Poor Bill Finger would die a drunken pauper, having really done all the work to make the Dark Knight one of the most popular superheroes of all-time and getting zero credit until decades later after his death.

You get a renewed respect for Will Eisner with this book. William Gaines too. I didn't know that his father hated him so. And poor Bill Gaines. He just wanted to be a school teacher and ends up having to become the editor of E.C. Comics after his father's suspicious drowning death, in order to keep his family afloat financially. I also feel really bad for Gaines for flaking out during the Senate hearings on comic book violence led by Senator Estes Kefauver. Image how things could have gone differently had Gaines swallowed his pride and not insisted on testifying to disastrous results. We wouldn't have had MAD Magazine, that's for sure. 

2005's Men of Tomorrow was written by comic book writer turned noted comic book historian Gerard Jones. It's an interesting story that examines the ins and outs of the early comic book industry as well as the personal lives of Siegel and Shuster. Neither were very pretty. It's a good read that teaches a lot I didn't know. But it could have been about 30 pages shorter if Jones didn't keep reminding us about what had happened prior. Though, maybe the author was trying to capture the way comics would keep readers up-to-date on the accounts of the previous issue before diving into the latest chapter.

Plus with this being a scholarly work, there's about 30 pages of notes that you can skip as well. That is unless you enjoy reading citations and sources of which I gave up interest in pursuing years after I graduated as a History major at NC State.

A must for those remaining collectors who are devoted to the entire field of comic books across the ages. And if you love the pulps or thinking about becoming a collector of those aging precursors to comics (and I don't mean that because of the source material which is considered taboo and very un-PC), the first four chapters are the introduction you've been looking for.

Also, the cover is a collage of comic book panels crafted together by famed book cover artist Chip Kidd. I'd really like to know what book he used for the top panel. Was it from a religious comic about the Rapture? I'm very interested in knowing the story behind that panel.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Avengers: Disassembled

The Original Avengers come to an end in this collection by Brian Michael Bendis. 

Bendis in my opinion is a fantastic writer and a thrilling plotter. He crafts situations that are so shocking and unexpected that I can understand why he's such a controversial character in his craft. But I like him. There's a really good interview with Bendis added to the director's commentary section. It gives some amazing insight into his thought process. Many fans feel like Bendis hates the characters he writes by putting them through the wringer like he does. However, in that interview, Bendis explains that if he made the lives of each character that he was fan of without their trials, it would get pretty boring, pretty quick.

Avengers: Disassembled recounts the worst day in Avengers history. The story is 20 years old and yet I do do not want to spoil it for readers who might not have read it yet. However, I can say that you don't have to read 5 'Disassembled' storylines that take place with Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man and Captain America. Those books 'weave a complete tapestry' of the 'Disassembled' epic but you won't miss anything if you stick to the Avengers who are the main focus of this period in Marvel history.

I believe that I can also reveal without ruining anything by saying that if you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and you wish to learn more about the comic book influences of WandaVision, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness and Agatha All Along, then you will want this volume!

The artwork of the main story is by David Finch. I thought it was dynamic. In his sketchbook at the end of this book, he gets really in-depth into a particularly shocking segment. Finch is really hard on himself, pointing out all of the imperfections in his work. I totally relate. As a chef, I constantly find ways I could have made the dish better while all those who eat my creations think it's amazing. Finch as an artist sees how he could have improved while I am looking at every panel thinking it's sheer perfection. 

Also included in this volume is a one-shot finale where dozens of Avengers artists from the past 500 issues join together to recount some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes favorite moments as an Avenger while saying goodbye to the Avengers Mansion which is to be turned into a monument to the heroes who fell in the onslaught. 

A great addition to my Avengers collection of works.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Age Fantastic Four, Vol. 3: The Return of Doom (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Before the advent of Marvel's all-ages Marvel Adventures imprint, the House of Ideas introduced young readers to their most popular characters with Marvel Age. Along with incorporating a handful of Manga inspired titles from Marvel's failed Tsunami line, Marvel Age retold the earliest adventures of Spider-Man, the Hulk and the Fantastic Four. Updated with modern twists, writer Marc Sumerak and artists Alitha Martinez and Joe Dodd followed the original plots of Marvel's First Family created by legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 

Volume 3 of Marvel Age Fantastic Four, 'The Return of Doom' reprinted the last 4 issues of the all-ages series. 

Issue #9 sees Mr. Fantastic dogged by creditors in 'The End of the Fantastic Four.' Recent bad investments lead Reed Richards to accept an offer from Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner to star in a reality series starring the FF. In a challenge show similar to Survivor, it's a battle for survival as all of Namor 's challenges are secretly rigged as fights to the death!

Issue #10, the title story, ushers in 'The Return of Doctor Doom!' Victor Von Doom has escaped from am orbital prison constructed by Mr. Fantastic thanks to a pair of aliens called Ovoids. From the creatures' space ship, Doctor Doom discovers a way to switch bodies with Reed. Now Doom's mind is in Richards' body and the leader of the Fantastic Four is trapped inside the iron armor of Doom.

After escaping from the clutches of their arch-enemy, the Fantastic Four meet 'The Impossible Man!' In this retelling of the classic second story of issue #11, the are plagued by the madcap antics of the shape-changing visitor from the planet Poppup.

Issue #12 retells the team's epic first encounter with the green colossus, The Incredible Hulk. After another top secret project is destroyed, the United States Army calls upon the FF to investigate. General Thunderbolt Ross is convinced that the sabotage is the result of another Hulk rampage. Dr. Bruce Banner is convinced it's something else and he should know since he's secretly the Hulk!

Featuring modernized versions of some of the greatest Marvel stories ever written, the Marvel Age imprint only lasted from 2004-05. It's predecessor, Marvel Adventures vastly outlived Marvel Age, running from 2005-2012. The success was large part to the addition of Darwyn Cooke who crafted a story Bible that set Marvel's best and brightest into new adventures that were nostalgic without relying completely on the scripts of Lee and Kirby. The artwork was less manga heavy as the Marvel Age books were and reflected a more sleeker style that was more commercial. As with all good things, the imprint was dismantled in order to usher in books based on the Disney XD animated lineup that were set in the Marvel cinematic universe. Being that the Fantastic Four were the property of Fox Studios, young readers were no longer able to find new comic book exploits of Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Invisible Woman and The Human Torch by 2013.

Completing this review completes Task #8 (Starring the Human Torch) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Bizarro World (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Bizarro World is a loose sequel to 2001's Bizarro Comics. Whereas the earlier book was a collection of vignettes and previously cancelled material from some of the industry's top Indy talent, book-ended by a story in which Mr. Mxyzptlk is aided by Bizarro to save his 5th dimension home from an alien invader, the later work was a strict anthology in every sense of the word.

Featuring the talents of the Hernandez Brothers, Evan Dorkin, Raina Telgemeier and a host of others, 2005's Bizarro World pales in comparison to it's processor with one major deviation: Christmas stories! 

Andy Merrill and Roger Langridge's 'Jing Kal-El' is an oddball Elseworld in which we see what would have happened to the Last Son of Krypton if his rocket ship had crash landed into Santa's work shop at the North Pole. In 'Batman Smells', actor-comedian Patton Oswalt reveals the origins to the alternate lyrics of Jingle Bells. Artist Bob Fingerman takes viewers on a tour through Gotham City sewers and the Batcave in order to discover the answer. A couple of other stories have scenes that take place in otherwise non-holiday themed tales. But it adds to the unexpected merriment of an otherwise lacking anthology.

For being a graphic novel named after the Superman Family character, Bizarro is noticeably absent from a majority of this book. He does appear in the title story by Chris Duffy and Scott Morse, explaining that 'Bizarro World' is a DC Comics themed amusement park designed from a Bizarro point of view. However, the real Bizarro #1 is a closeted intellectual who milks his backwards persona for profit. Only those riches come at the cost of the anti-villain's dignity. A Harvey Pekar penned farce also stars Bizarro bringing the total number of appearances to 2. 

Not counting the cover by Jaime Hernandez. Batman is the winner of most starring roles in this book with a grand total of 8! The Legion of Super-heroes comes in third with a trio of appearances.

While a very Batman heavy book, just about every character in the DC Universe appears in this book, if only for just a 'Wheres Waldo?' type-cameo as part of the background scenery of a panel. Supergirl, The Spectre and Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth are among the characters who star in this collection of over 2 dozen short stories that look at DC Comics with an askew view.

Completing this review completes Task #12 (An Anthology) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

I Luv Halloween, Vol 1

A Halloween themed manga written by Keith Giffen. I couldn't pass it up. And yet like a driver who picks up the hitchhiker from Hell, I kinda wish that I had kept on driving. 

I Luv Halloween has got to be the must inappropriate, goriest romp starring kids that I have ever read. Imagine the movie Gummo, if it was set during Halloween. (I really want to compare this with the film Kids. However, there's nowhere as much animal murder and cruelty in that controversial film compared to Gummo.)

The book is about a group of 4 boys as they go trick-or-treating. After getting apples at their first couple of houses, the boys decide to break the curse by putting razor blades in one of the fruits and unleash the unmitigated fury of the law on one of their stingy neighbors. Meanwhile, one of the boy's sisters has broken free from the group and has begun a reign of unintentional terror, killing the neighborhood bully, bludgeoning a cheerleader and her boyfriend and much, much more unspeakable acts. 

If I thought Giffen was trying to do a straight out horror story on par with Children of the Corn, I'd probably not feel like I need to take a shower just for writing this review. But the kids in the book do most of their gruesome acts with a sense of innocence. It's almost like the worst Murphy's law bad luck of all time following these kids and they just go through life not understanding just how destructive they are. Remember how Steve Urkel would ask 'did I do that?', whenever something went wrong? Well, these kids, for the most part, don't even know that they are doing terrible things. Well, the sister might. There's definitely something not quite right about her...

The artwork is by Benjamin Roman. At the time this book was published, in 2005, he was a relative newcomer with this being his very first professionally published work. His art style is extremely exaggerated. Roman would fit in quite well at MAD Magazine. I wonder what became of him...

This one isn't a keeper for me. I wasn't a huge fan of it. There's a lot going on that I'm not even sure happened or not as several of kids are not very reliable narrators. And yet, there's 2 more volumes and I just need to find out what is true and what is the fever dreams of a group of horny preteens. Plus I just need to know what is wrong with the sister. She just not quite right in the head.

Not the coming of age tale you'd feel comfortable sharing with your kids or grand kids. I fact, if you didn't feel uncomfortable after reading this book I'd think something might be wrong with you...

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Babymouse, Volume 2: Our Hero (Family Comic Friday)

I dug into a classic for this week's review. The character of Babymouse isn't a stranger to my blog. I've reviewed a couple of comic samplers that have included her adventures chronicled by the brother/sister duo of Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm. I've even reviewed her Christmas book. This just happens to be the first full-length regular book starring Babymouse and friends that I've ever read and reviewed.

Babymouse is like most elementary school kids. Classes are boring. Her imagination runs wild. And gym class is a source of great stress, especially when it comes time to play dodge ball! In the past, Babymouse has been able to sick her way out of gym class whenever dodge ball rolls around. Now that her coach has decreed that next week's game is mandatory, Babymouse will have to swallow her fears and play against her dreaded nemesis, Felecia- the meanest girl in the entire school! 

Well, Babymouse does have a week until that game. Maybe best buddy Wilson can train her into becoming the world's greatest dodge ball player! Maybe a massive blizzard will pop up and force school to be cancelled! Let's face it; the odds of these things happening are really, really low. Just don't forget to bring your sneakers with you, Babymouse!

This book was a lot of fun. It was extremely cute. This book was from 2005 and yet everything felt fresh and new. Babymouse's imagination knows no bounds as there are a ton of references to some awesome franchises in this graphic novel. 

I didn't plan it this way, but there's an all-new Babymouse adventure debuting in stores next week. It appears that Babymouse has grown up a little with her new series, The Big Adventures of Babymouse. Not only is the character a bit bigger, so is the format of the new graphic novels. Instead of being digest-sized, like the original series was, the continuation is more formatted to reflect the dimensions of a comic book. Volume 2: Besties will hit store shelves on October 3rd!

A world of fun in black and white and hot pink!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

G.I. Joe: Arashikage Showdown

Gosh darn it if ninjas aren't the breakout stars of the G.I. Joe franchise. You've got members of every branch of the US military. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard. There's probably a TSA agent on the team nowadays. On the side of the baddies, you've got swamp rats and punks, iron clad aristocrats, and robots. And just who are the more popular characters of the series? It's the freakin' ninjas!

Their popularity is all due to the godfather of G.I. Joe, Larry Hama. He was tasked with creating an interesting background for a Hasbro cost cutting measure and out of his bag of tricks, Hama gives us Snake-Eyes. Hama pulled from his Japanese heritage to give a rather bland looking all-black plastic 3.75 inch action figure an awesome background story. A veteran of the Vietnam war, Snake-Eyes is injured in a helicopter crash. Having lost his ability to talk and basically looking like a full-faced Two-Face, Snake-Eyes trains to become a ninja of the Arashikage Clan which is kind of a big deal since Snake-Eyes is a white guy and ninjas are supposed to be extinct. 

That's pretty much where we come in with this Manga G.I. Joe story from Devil's Due Publishing imprint D3. Snake-Eyes, along with Scarlett are summoned to Japan by former Joes Jinx and Nunchuk. An ancient scroll thought lost for centuries has been stolen. This parchment, hidden since the fall of the ninja, speaks of amazing powers that can make a ninja invisible in daylight. In the hands of an evil force like Cobra it can be destructive to world peacekeeping efforts. For the few remaining members of the Arashikage clan, it's personal.

I'm not known for being a fan of manga. But I am an established fan of G.I. Joe. I've read the complete Marvel run. I'm close to complete ownership of the other Marvel Joe supplemental series. And I am slowly getting the Devil's Due and IDW runs. Thus I felt when I found this book a couple of years ago, I couldn't pass it up. 

I didn't sit on this book because of any attempt to get the rest of the Devil's Due run. In fact, I didn't know that D3 was in any way related to Devil's Due. No, the reason I waited a while to read this is because I was looking for Volume 2. Guess what? There is no Volume 2! As with a lot of non-Japanese manga publishers in the 2000s, D3 went defunct soon after the publication of this here Volume 1. 

The story by Joshua Blaylock (Mercy Sparx) was very confusing. There's a bunch of names of clans, historical characters and Joe characters that I wasn't familiar with. That's because even though this is a one-shot manga, Arashikage Showdown was tied-in to the regular Devil's Due comic. Technically, it's also tied into the original Marvel Comics series. 

Keep in mind I haven't read any of the Devil's Due books. There's a character in this manga called Kamakura. He's Snake-Eyes apprentice. I had no idea who this new ninja Joe was. That was until I Googled him and learned that Kamakura is actually little Sean Broca, all grown up! (Don't remember Sean? Surely you'll remember Fred Broca, the Crimson Guardsman who is later replaced by Wade Collins!)

I think if I hadn't had Google at my beck and call, I would have hated this book. The artwork was decent. It didn't look all that very Manga-like. Well, until we had that very clunky looking ritual performed by Snake-Eyes. Over the span of several pages! Then the artwork got more emoji than emotional and it started to look less like something that was my thing and more of the interest of fans of anime would like. 

A saving grace for this book was the 4-page ending. It was powerful. It was deep. It was so good I re-read that segment twice. And it helps to save my review of this book!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle: Volume 1

   

Surreal... Absurd... Insane... Funny as Hell...

   There's really no better way to describe Michael Kupperman's 'Tales Designed to Thrizzle.' This 2005 comic skewers just about anything. But what makes it so incredible is that every joke is done with complete seriousness. From parodying buddy cop movies with stories starring the duo of Snake n' Bacon (an actual snake and a crispy piece of meat candy) as well as the unlikely pair of Albert Einstein and Mark Twain to the satire of mass media produced comics like a Bazooka Joe wrapper or those found on the back of a cereal box- nothing is sacred like Jesus' half brother, Pagus! And don't forget the Mannister, the man with the superpower to turn into a banister! Or the forbidden history of when America had a prohibition on pleasure unless it took place 5 feet above or below ground; all of which lead to the rich taking flight in sex blimps. (Don't worry, the lower classes got their kicks in underground sex holes..those dirty, dirty sex holes...)

   Man, I'm getting sucked up in the absurdity. Mostly, because this was how my brain works. In high school, I was a founding member of 2 guerrilla comedy troupes and we'd do all kinds of crazy stuff like this. Only, we either taped it or performed it during lunch... But man, those moments of surreal humor kept me sane during a very rough high school experience and it was great to blow off a little steam laughing my butt off reading this!

   My favorite part of these comics are the ads. They parody just about every odd advertisement you'd come across in an old comic book or in the personals of your local newspaper. Don't skip these! Some of them are so off-the-wall that you'll not be able to help yourself with a chuckle or two- like 'Learn How to Fall Down Stairs For Fun or Profit!'

   Great stuff that can't be beaten. Not everything is a winner but you can't lose checking out this strange but brilliant series.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Fog

   This Dark Horse graphic novel was written as a prequel to the 2005 remake of the Fog. However, as this incorporation ideas and story structure that John Carpenter wanted to include in his classic 1980 version, this book can act as a prequel to that film as well. That actually works quite well for me as I've seen the original (which scared the hell outta me) but not the remake.

    The prequel starts in China with a group of Shanghai traders fleeing a mysterious fog. They arrive in a coastal town in post-Civil War California, where they work in the town's mines and perform odd jobs. When one of the residents begins a series of gruesome experiments on one of the boat people, they unwittingly unleash the ancient curse hidden in the fog that the immigrants so desperately fled China from.

    The Fog was very good, but it wasn't great. (Which is what many people say of the original film from 1980.) The writing was good, the art was fantastic, and there was a great scare factor in the book, but something was missing. The story needed a little more tweaking in terms of plotting and pacing. Some scenes, that in my opinion seem unnecessary, drag on for several pages. Whereas when the story gets to the climax, and we have a chance to truly grasp what was done to cause the fog to come to America and curse the coastal town, everything seems rushed and vital information is either forgotten or glossed over in order to meet the page requirement of the book. 

    If this was a miniseries instead of a single volume comprised of 88 pages (really about 80 if you remove the forward and afterword) then I think more time could have been given to flesh out this story better. Like Carpenter's original film, this book was fraught with missing opportunities...

    I found this book at Ollie's for dirt cheap. If you don't find it there, Amazon has it few literal pennies on the dollar. This was a fun book and I probably should have waited for closer to Halloween to read this. But the awesome Mike Mignola (Hellboy) cover and dynamic palette by Dave Stewart (also of Hellboy fame) was too tempting for me to wait.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
   

    

Grimm Fairy Tales Halloween Special #1A (Family Comic Friday)

Fairy tales are huge right now. With the Disney Pixar film Frozen, plus the popularity of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, if you are a fan of Cinderella, Elsa, or just about any Disney princess imaginable this is your time. So, I thought it would be fitting to examine a comic that on the surface looks harmless but is really edgy.

Grimm Fairy Tales is a series by Zenescope Entertainment. Started in 2005, the series follows the adventures of literature professor Dr. Sela Mathers who has the special ability to help people heal by using fairy tales. She has an evil nemesis; the red-haired Belinda. Sela, a raven haired beauty with glasses and other noticeable assets is the yin to Belinda’s yang. I’ve only read a couple of issues but from what I’ve gathered, the two are ‘sisters’ of a sort. There’s also allusion that Sela is in reality Snow White while Belinda is Snow’s troublesome sister, Rose Red.

Why have I not read many issues? Well, it’s got a lot of R-Rated material inside. Grimm usually is issued with at least 2 different covers. Cover A is fairly tame though the lead characters do seem to be literally busting at the seams. But its cover B, C, and even D that parents need to keep an eye out for. Those covers usually have the leads in more states of undress to the point that exclusive covers made specifically for conventions or comic shops feature partial to full nudity.

Now the two covers to the Halloween special are pretty tame in comparison but again to the uninitiated, the adage is true “don’t judge a book by its cover.” In this issue, 3 young children enter a neighbor’s haunted house to receive a treat during a lull in their Halloween festivities. The lead has fiery red hair, dressed as a witch, and wears a dental floss thong. Though she’s never named, I assume that this woman is Belinda.

The treat is a retelling of the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw.” That short story ends with a 'choose your own ending' type climax. The storyteller goes on to elaborate on what that ending is and then goes on to tell the story of Sal. Sal has come into possession of the paw, after the deaths of the previous owners. He’s been warned that the paw will grant your wishes with fearsome consequences.

Sal wishes for a girl, some money, and a few other luxuries. However, he never holds the paw when making the wish. So, really what’s happened is just plain dumb luck that’s pretty gruesome. The ending however is where the real horror is and the epilogue suggests more evil from the curse of the monkey’s paw will be unleashed again during the forthcoming Christmas special.

This special has sex, nudity, and several 4-letters swears. This would be a book that if it was a movie would probably be rated R or a hard PG-13 at the least. Other Grimm comics that I have read have more nudity, language, and some frightening witchcraft in them. This is one of the more tame books in the series that I have read.

Grimm Fairy Tales isn’t really my thing. I like the Vertigo title Fables a lot more. Yes, it’s got sex, blood, and isn’t for kids. But not every issue is a grindhouse unlike this series. I don’t recommend either title for a child to read. But, adults would love this series. However, because of the familiar characters in these series and the really colorful covers, it could easily be appealing to youngsters. So, buyers beware and take note the next time you want to buy your child a comic book about fairy tales.

I recommend the following: Anything with Disney on the cover, Muppet Peter Pan, Muppet Snow White, Avengers: Fairy Tales, Spider-man Fairy Tales, Betty & Veronica’s Princess Storybook and the Action Lab’s Princeless.

Next week, I’ll review another Halloween goody. This one will be kid friendly, parent approved. I promise.

Worth Consuming (for those older than 13!)

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars